UGC and creators: how to work with user-generated content

UGC (user generated content) is content made by people outside your company: customers who post your product, or creators you pay to make videos in the style of a real user. It works because it shows the product in real use, by someone who looks like the customer. To use it properly, you need a clear brief, usage rights in writing and a label on every paid partnership.

Two kinds of UGC

Organic UGC is made by your customers of their own accord: a story with the product, a photo from the store, an unboxing video. It is valuable, but it doesn't belong to you. To repost it or use it in an ad, ask its creator for written permission, even if they have tagged you. To encourage organic UGC, make it easy for customers to tag you: a card in the packaging, a hashtag, a spot in the store that is worth a photo.

Creator UGC is commissioned. You work with a creator, give them a brief and receive videos made for your brand, often for use in ads. Some creators also post the video on their own account, others only deliver the files. Settle this from the start, because it affects both the labelling and the rights.

How to write a brief for creators

A good brief gives the creator what they need to succeed without scripting every word. If the script is too rigid, you lose the authenticity you chose them for. The brief needs:

• A goal: what you want the viewer to understand or do.
• The product: what it is, who it is for, the two or three things that must be said and those that must not, such as promises you can't back up.
• Ideas for the hook, meaning the opening of the video, with room for the creator to suggest their own.
• Technical points: vertical video, approximate length, subtitles, lighting, clear sound.
• Deliverables: how many videos, how many versions of the opening, and whether you also want the raw footage.
• A timeline, rounds of revisions and when the product reaches the creator.
• Usage rights and labelling, put in writing before production begins.

Add one or two examples of a style you like and one you don't want. They help more than a long description.

When choosing a creator, look at their audience, their style and the quality of their lighting and sound, not just their follower count. Also check whether they have recently worked with a competitor of yours and whether the comments on their videos show that people trust them.

Usage rights and partnership labelling

Usage rights set out where, for how long and how you can use the material. Put them in writing for every collaboration:

• Channels: only organically on your own social media and website, or in advertising too.
• Duration: for how many months you can use it and what happens after that.
• Editing: whether you can cut it, change the music, add text or combine parts of different videos.
• Ads from the creator's account: whether they allow their own post to be promoted as an ad.
• Exclusivity: whether the creator can work with a competitor of yours during the same period.

Labelling is a separate matter. When a creator posts content they were paid for or received something else in return for, such as a product, viewers must be able to tell it is a partnership. Instagram, Facebook and TikTok each have their own tools for labelling paid partnerships.

The rules change. Before every campaign, check each platform's current terms and the advertising guidelines that apply in Greece and the EU. For the contract with the creator, talk to your legal adviser. This article is a practical guide, not legal advice.

How to use UGC in ads

In advertising, UGC gives you something that is hard to get any other way: many different versions, with people talking to camera about the product. To make the most of it:

1. Ask for several openings for the same video. The opening decides whether the viewer stays, and it is the easiest part to test.
2. Add subtitles and on-screen text for people watching with the sound off.
3. Combine UGC with clean studio product shots, for the details a phone doesn't capture well.
4. Compare creators with each other, not just messages. The same words from a different person can bring a different result.
5. Watch for the point when a video starts to tire your audience, and have new variations ready.

Before you put anything into an ad, check that the usage rights cover advertising, for the channels and the period you want, and that the music is cleared for commercial use.

THPAUL writes the brief and the ideas, sample scripts and variations for the opening of each video, suggests creators who suit your audience and coordinates the production. You approve the final choice of creators. Every creator partnership has written usage rights: where, for how long and on which channels the material can be used, so that it can also go into ads.